24 Year-Old Wife Allegedly Stabbed to Death by Mother-In-Law

Why does it seem like there is a reported case of domestic violence, often leading to death every day in the news? The trend is really disturbing.

In the past week, there have been several reported cases of violence among couples, both married and unmarried. But this one has a different twist.

A 24 year-old mother of two was was allegedly stabbed to death by her mother in-law on Wednesday evening at Angwar Baba area of New Nyanya, Nassarawa State. Daily Trust reports that the deceased, Esther Opara was stabbed by her mother-in-law after arguments over photographs.

The deceased’s aunt, Faith Okpudo, told Daily Trust that she was informed that the mother-in-law took some of her personal photographs and that she demanded to have them back, to which she refused. She added that her late niece was said to have asked her husband to tell his mother to hand over her personal photographs to her, but the husband was alleged to have sided with his mother, insisting that the mother should have the photographs.

“We were told that she started quarrelling with her husband for not supporting her. She cried and entered the room, packing her things but her mother in-law allegedly came from behind and stabbed her on the stomach twice. When she removed the knife from her stomach, her intestines came out with the knife. The mother-in-law was said to have run out of the house and the husband ran after her but returned to the wife when her cry was too much.”

She was confirmed dead when she was rushed to the hospital.

The deceased’s husband, Chinedu Opara said his mother had never been nice to his late wife since they got married, adding that they had been married for four years. He said his mother had been with them since he married his late wife and they had not been enjoying peace. He also added that his wife reported to him that his mother had taken all her pictures but he told her to ignore her.

“When I told my wife to ignore her, she entered the room but the next thing I heard was a cry. I entered the room immediately I heard that noise and I saw my mother with a knife and blood stains. I looked at the floor and saw my wife’s intestine outside her stomach,’’ he told Daily Trust.

He said his mother ran away after the incident, adding that he initially pursued her but returned back because of the condition of his wife and the cries of the children.

The Investigation Police Officer in charge of the case at New Nyanya police division told Daily Trust that the police are still investigating the cause of the death and that the woman is presently at large.

What a sad story. May her soul Rest In Peace.

Photo Credit: www.madamenoire.com

About Adeola Adeyemo

Adeola Adeyemo is a graduate of Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from University of Lagos. However, her passion is writing and she worked as a reporter with NEXT Newspaper. She believes that anything can be written about; anything can be a story depending on the angle it is seen from and the writer's imagination. When she is not writing news or feature articles, she slips into her fantasies and creates interesting fiction pieces. She blogs at www.deolascope.blogspot.com

It amazes me when I see Mother in laws willfully sow seeds of discord in their homes! Some will fight you head long, while the cowardy ones will fight you at your back using their daughters especially those that have more than two daughters so either way they are still fighting you! either face-to-face or by instigating their daughters against you whether younger or older than you.

Anyway my strategy is CUT THEM OFF! you can only be nicey nicey but for a time. I advise any married woman not to go trading words with a mother in law nor a sister in law but your weapon of warfare is to keep a VERY clear Respectable distance. Even if they are coming close, tactfully keep keeping them afar off without saying anything and with time they will get the message. Never go into friendships with bad inlaws in a view to win them over ‘cos you will never succeed. Sad people are sad people no matter how hard you have tried to win them over! If you have Children, just work hard and raise them to be successful! Work hard your self, become self sufficient and independent to hold your own. My advice to any unmarried lady is to look very well, be sure your intended husband isn’t unsually emotionally attached to his mother, and isn’t a mummy’s boy either. Forget love oh!! shine your eye well well…..else you are in trouble. And if you are lucky to have married a non-mummy’s boy then lucky are you! it will be easier to tactfully keep sad inlaws afar off!! You have but one life to live

true talk oo..my uncle’s mum is one mother-in-law i pray not to have. she has five daughters and she has succeeded in using three against my uncle and his wife. i mean her own son oh. She complains he doesnt send her money because of his wife. Meanwhile this man tries his best oo..The three sisters that are against him are married but i dont see what they are sending for their mum. i dont want to go into details sha but that woman is just not it at all

Signs that your mother in law does not like or fully accept you and will fight or is already fighting you at your back:

1). She never calls you to check up on you. Even in your pregnancy, you will think she will have a change of heart. Forget it!

2). Her daughters for an un-explanable reason don’t just like you!! No matter how hard you are tryin to be their friend and win them over

3). Even when you seem to win them over it seems to be only very temporal before they pick another trouble with you

4). Even at the short times when they seem to be at peace with you, it looks at if they are doing you a favout by acting to have accepted you and hence they bully you or make you grovel to gain acceptance…..and it doesn’t matter if they are younger or older than you. It is more pronounced if they are even younger than you! that is a sure proof as to why thy won’t treat you with respect no matter what. Because they know they are solidly protected by their mother

5). Because your mother in law already does not like you, should there be any issues between you and your hubby or any of her children (with is common, no matter how minute) don’t expect she will be objective! If the case is clearly in your favour, you will notice she will rather remain quiet than speak up justly in your favour. If the case partially in your favour, you will notice how quick she will be to elaborate any loop holes you have created to warrant the quarell or can even say the fault is yours!

6). Even if and when you have Children, she may not really give a damn about them either. Rather she will acknowledge the children of her own daughters more than yours, ‘cos she won’t want to give you any chance to feel important or desired.

Ladies be careful! choose your spouses with caution. Better to be single and even have a child out of wedlock sef! than to live a perpetual pain in the name of marrige. IN ALL HONESTY

Hey Goz well I have similar troubles just my MIL uses more logical reasons to oppose me ine everything! She is more consistent and knows my weak placees and what I am very bad at.So she will blame it on that things usually if he has fight and my husband will go to her side! I am desperate,my husband usually feels sorry and pitty of his mom and always supports her and she feels courage to disrespect me really badly and talk to me like to garbage,she doesn’t do it infront of him never! She doesn’t want to ruin her image of a honest and goo dperson but when we are alone she is on fire!She is really going to be punished on day God will take her actions into account and he sees everything!

Nawa o..but in as much as i love my mother-in-law,she cant stay in my home especially immediately after i marry .old age and sickness might make her stay with her son later in life but not immediately i marry.this is cos as a wife,i need a period of time to establish my territory in my home..anybody dat comes in later is like a vistor.obviously,d mama was d head of the house,if not why wont the husband have ordered his mother to hand his wife’s pictures back to her and she does dat immediately?some marriages self!

Shine Ur eyes that is what u need…..a man can change after u marry him, and pray hard that the mother is not a witch…..what u cannot accept don’t go into marriage thinking it will change….shine Ur eye……

I really don’t understand some mothers-in-law attitude to their daughters-in-law. Could it be that they see them as a threat? Sincerely, I don’t blame some women who wish their mother-in-law dead. Anyway, may the soul of Esther rest in peace. Amen. The evil mother-in-law must be found and stabbed same way

sorry personally i feel the husband is a whimp, that is why i would never marry a mum’s boy… rubbish. No mother inlaw will live in my house past a month, 4 weeks is max, and if you want to see the grand kids after, i will send you pictures. What type of nonsense is this. I feel most nigerian men are so weak when it comes to their mother and telling them to let them grow up. I feel sad she married into such a family and some will say the mother was jealous, and i do also believe it was jealousy mangled in hersays. May God help our culture survive wicked women like this, for marriage is a beautiful thing between man and woman, and their families. I dont think we should be put in harms way because of respect. Domestic violence occur everyday and we must learn to face facts, that we as a society must focus on getting our people help, psychologically mostly, because we live in a society where some inlaws feel they can do anything to you, and that can be stopped only if the husband speaks up.

This is just too much. “He shot his girlfriend”, “He stabbed his wife”, “He strangled his girlfriend”, “He killed his brother”, now…. she was killed by her mother-in-law. This is just too much… God save us all

Why was d mum living with them in d first place. And the so called husband was taking sides with d mum.its just so pathetic what some women go thru in the hands of some men all in d name of marriage. Poor girl ,may her soul find peace

this man is a fool. i’m sorry, but i’m sick of men standing aside doing nothing while their mothers and sister torment their wives.

“The deceased’s husband, Chinedu Opara said his mother had never been nice to his late wife since they got married, adding that they had been married for four years. He said his mother had been with them since he married his late wife and they had not been enjoying peace.”

then why didn’t you summon the courage to ask her to leave? now your wife is dead at the young age of 24. I’m so angry. Poor woman. Poor kids.

The husband is obviously not man enough to have a family if he’s unable to control his household. why do they have his mother living with them for four years? May her soul rest in peace and May God save us from crazy in-laws.

this is my problem with having mother-in-laws living in a family…this man obviously has no control and couldnt prevent his mum from mingling or interfering in family affairs especially seeing that she did not like his wife.

Comments like urs are so annoying and irritating …..incase u haven’t woken up from the last century, we r in the end times and their is so much evil in the land…….we need to know what is going on around us…..am currently in America and half of the news on local tv is bad news….that’s the reality of the times we r in so know that……

For unmarried ladies who have already concluded that all mothers-in-law are bad and don’t deserve your love, it’s not true. Remember ladies, that you too will be a mother-in-law someday. That one is bad doesn’t mean others don’t seek for your well-being. Before I got married, my mum told me the same thing. Now I am married and I love my mom-in-law to bits. I respect her as my husband’s mother and she respects me as her son’s wife. Bottom line, treat others as you would want to be treated yourself. This is one case out of many, maybe 1:100. As for Nollywood, it’s film portrayed to enlighten us on cases such as this.

Now I’m kind of scared oooo,my fiance is so attached to his mother,infact the whole family,and he always want me to do the same,in as much I like them,I’m not always free with them,blcas I’m a shy person.But I can always see the happiness that always radiate tru his eyez,whenever I come close and chat with his mum…but the mum is kind sha,but I kind of feel like, he will choose his mum over me if the need arise.The only assurance I have is that,they are God fearing family!

Shine Ur eyes and don’t dull urself. What u cannot accept make it known now so u don’t think u will do it when u marry him……men that r attached to their mums can be a problem cos even if the mothers don’t live in the house they can still control them from afar……ask God to reveal who she really is in the spiritual cos that is the only way u can see the inner heart of someone……trust me am married, ain’t saying hate her or Ur guy but just shine Ur eyes…God give u wisdom

What kind of mother is this? Such hate for d deceased? My GOD! Honestly, d man was not man enough to have his mother live with him for four years? Gosh! What was he thinking? Smh, mtcheew. May her soul rest in Peace….

bulk of the blame goes to the man who couldn’t stand up to his mother. he knew very well that his mom hates his wife yet he allowed her stay on and made him a widower. such a spineless man and evil woman. @jd, it better Bella posts all these so people like me that are yet to get will learn o. God help us, what a wicked world!!!!

I blame the blame the man for not being so strong and allowing the mother to stay in his house (which i can never take). I don’t take nonsense and I have already told my fiancée no one is coming to stay with us (in case it crosses their mind) although they will never do cos everyone is established and busy with their own life The irony of this is that: A girl becomes a lady, gets married and becomes a mother, have kids and becomes a mother in law. All these ladies shouting here, can you give me a break please? I think ladies need prayers. You people are not united a bit. This is what you all do and will do. On the issue of mother in laws, don’t want to hear anything from you ladies. In the office you quarrel, everywhere you quarrel and take offences easily. If your fellow lady dresses, you talk her down. You look her from head to toe and you know when the bag is old fashioned, you know when her shoes are local…. I read some comments on wedding pictures and events, all you do is to see the other side of your fellow ladies. I took a friend home someday and my elder sister said she doesn’t like her. I shut her up immediately. It is my choice and not hers. All you ladies, when your brothers bring a girl home, you start complaining saying this and that. Even when your girlfriend has a boyfriend, toaster or suitor, you start talking them down. You criticize them badly, you tear them down, you say they are this and they are that. Isn’t that the same spirit? When you have your own sons and they are ready to marry, that is still the same thing you will tell them. You have that spirit of condemning people now abi? You see no good in other people’s boyfriends and suitors right? You will marry someday, have your own sons, they will marry and that is what you will do. Smh

BN you better post my comment.It is really sad.I have been living with my mother-in-law for the past 6 years and you can never know she is a mother -in-law except i tell you.Young women who are going into marriage must ask God t o provide them with Mother-in Law that is in Christ.I pray that my mother-in-law remain in Christ because that is what is keeping the relationship between,me, my husband and even my sister-in-law in tact.So ladies pray like you’ve never done b4 you think of marriage.

This is why I can’t have my MIL stay with me s except dat she wants to help after childbirth.A friend had an experience last year the MIL was. Living with one of her daughters ,she had problem coping withdaugter and she had to leave to her first son who later asked her to go back to d sister but she refused and packed to my friends hse who shares a room and parlour selfcontain wit her hubby and daughter mind you d MIL is over 80 oocoupled wit d fact dat she had a wounddat refuses to heal on her leg,the lady was nice to her initially until the MIL told her to stop cOoking for her the hubby started eating his mums food which my friend d was not happy wit but can’t coplain,the MiL started bringing her pot of soup frm the kitchen inside thehouse anytime.the DIL complain she!ll starts sending insult to her family so at dat point she told the hubby to let go of the mother but he would not bulge his brothers and sisters asked him to send her to the village by force but he would not listen,the lady went thru hell until the man’s friends and alfa intervened in d matter .his excuse is he can’t watch d mum suffeer and dat he s doing his duty over her.if not for prayers d marriage of 3yrs would have ended.MIL can be funny at times all we needis prayers

Plz people help me! I will go crazy! My MIL is playing her cards so well.I made several mistakes I was living in her house and my child broke few things!Then She told my husband and cried I broke her house.Then she accused me of stealling her mobile ,because I had the same!Then she find different reasons to blame which are usually partially true but I know she doesn’t like me simply!I feel she feels jealous of my family! She is evil little human being and like hurting others May God help her to see that! I am meanwhile heart broken ,I wanted only to have normal family,my husband kicked me out of my house with my child and we are currently divorcing !She is horrible!She ruined my marriage and it’s happy now,she was supportive for the previous wife of my husband ! Although she said many bad things to him about her too!I understand their language but they don’t know!what should I do?